


Help, I Think I'm In Love With My Rival?

by infinityfactor



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, M/M, and i love them, probably cant even be called that really, they're both idiots, very soft and mild angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-22 00:48:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7411903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infinityfactor/pseuds/infinityfactor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bi guy worries he’s being homophobic when some alien flirts with his rival/best friend. </p>
<p>Plot twist: It turns out Lance doesn't have any problem with Keith kissing guys if it's him he's kissing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Help, I Think I'm In Love With My Rival?

**Author's Note:**

> Almost 100% based off of [this](http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/straight-guy-worries-hes-homophobic-gay-roommate-ends-falling-love/#gs.qkrLHHc) aka my favorite article ever
> 
> Also thanks to tumblr user [@autisticvoltronsquad](http://autisticvoltronsquad.tumblr.com/) for editing this ( ˘ ³˘)✧

“Well, that was awful.” Lance groaned out, stretching his hands above his head to crack his back as everyone gathered together in the lion chamber. The team had just returned from a mission to Namura - some exotic, beach-y planet filled with beautiful natives. It certainly was a feast for the eyes, but they ran into a little bit of… well, trouble. A small issue. Which was definitely not Lance’s fault! How was he supposed to know the alien with eyes for Keith was the outlaw they were after? It was an honest mistake, anyone could’ve made it. 

 

He tugged his helmet off, shaking his head to loosen his hair up. He was exhausted, and ready to go lie down in his quarters and take a really long nap. Plus he was starting to get a headache. 

 

“Lance.” A voice rang out in the silence of the hanger, and Lance couldn’t help but wince.

 

“Too loud, Keith..” 

 

“What is your  _ problem _ ?” Keith stood in front of Lance, and looked about ready to strangle him. Which was fair. No wait, it definitely wasn’t, because it wasn’t Lance’s fault. 

 

“What?” That pulled Lance out of his exhausted stupor, and he looked at Keith, eyebrows pulled together. It wasn’t totally his fault, he was trying to help Keith! “My problem? Have you consider what  _ your  _ problem is?”

 

“ _ I  _ don’t  _ have  _ a problem. You almost cost us the mission back there!” 

 

“I was trying to  _ help  _ you!” 

 

“Hey, hey.” Shiro stepped between them, grabbing both of their arms to stop them from making things worse. “You both need to calm down. We’re all a little high strung right now, and fighting’s not going to help that. You should both go cool off in your quarters for the time being.”

 

“Yeah, okay, sure.” Keith pulled his arm from Shiro’s grip with a violent tug, turning and stalking out of the chamber, leaving everyone - especially Lance - confused as hell. 

 

“Lance.” Shiro’s voice was borderline annoyed, but still had that underlying gentle tone. He watched Keith walk the distance to the door, then turned to Lance. “What did you do this time?”

 

“What’d’you mean,  _ this time _ ?” Lance scoffed, attempting to pull his arm from Shiro’s grip much like Keith had done, except he had gotten the short end of the stick and Shiro’s robotic hand was much stronger than Lance’s tug. Great, Keith gets to escape the lecture and Lance gets double.

 

“I mean, “What did you do to piss off Keith this time?”.” 

 

He groans, going nearly limp in Shiro’s grip. “I didn’t  _ do  _ anything. That Namurian was harassing Keith and I decided to step in and stop it. He should be  _ thanking  _ me, not getting mad at me!” 

 

“Just,” Shiro sighed. It wasn’t a good sound, it was tired and Lance felt really guilty for doing this to the team. Maybe it was his fault. Just a little, though. “Go get some rest.” 

 

The grip on Lance’s arm was relinquished, and he rubbed the spot. It hurt a little from when he strained against Shiro’s hand, but again, his own fault. Great. 

 

He left the lion chamber, after changing out of his paladin suit, hand still mindlessly on his wrist. Maybe he had been out of line, Keith didn’t seem like he was distressed by the alien flirting with him. Confused, maybe. He seemed like the type of guy who’d never been actively flirted with. Lance laughed through his nose. Keith was romantically inept yet still somehow managed to have better game than Lance. 

 

But that still didn’t explain why seeing Keith with that Narmurian made his stomach turn. He was never bothered by that before, he’d had his bisexual crisis (bi-sis, as he had so aptly dubbed it at the time) when he was younger, so it wasn’t the fact that it was a dude flirting with him. But it didn’t make any sense otherwise! Keith could do whatever he wanted, Lance didn’t really care. It was none of his business what Keith did in his spare time. So why did it bother him so much?

 

He had to ask someone about this. But who could he even ask? Definitely not Keith, for one. Shiro, maybe, but he seemed annoyed at Lance right now, so that probably wasn’t the best option. Hunk? Poor guy was probably already knocked out. That left…

 

Allura, Coran, and Pidge. 

 

. . . 

 

Pidge it is. 

 

Pidge would know what was wrong. She was smart, she had to be able to help Lance with this, right? Even though she worked with like, robots and not people, she could probably offer  _ something _ . At least, more than what his own head was providing. 

 

Instead of heading to his own quarters, he detoured to where Pidge typically spent her time in seclusion from the rest of them. Probably because they were too loud for her. It was a fair concern. 

 

And sure enough, there she was. Did she ever even sleep? Lance wasn’t sure if Pidge ever even slept, she always seemed to be firing on all cylinders. Maybe she just drank way too much coffee whenever the team wasn’t looking. 

 

“Heyyy, Pidge. What’cha doing?” He leaned against the wall next to where she was working, casually slipping his hands into his pockets. “Can I ask you something?” 

 

“I’m working.” 

 

“Okay cool so like, you know how on the mission to Namura that one alien we met started flirting with Keith and-“

 

“You almost fought him, yeah, we all remember. It really hasn’t been that long, Lance.” 

 

“Well, like, I’ve been thinking about it a lot and like…” Lance started pacing around Pidge, pulling his hands out of his pockets to gesture wildly as he thought of how to explain his feelings. “I’m not disgusted by him flirting with guys or vice versa, I mean. I like guys, I’ve never dated one or really flirted with one-” 

 

Pidge scoffed. 

 

“ _ Anyways _ , I’m not exclusively interested in girls, I guess. I just… seeing that made me so mad and I keep thinking about Keith doing that kinda…  _ stuff _ with other dudes, like kissing or whatever, and I feel disgusted by it. But I’m not like, homophobic or anything, I just hate seeing him with other people. Any time an alien flirts with him I feel weird and I want them to leave him alone. I don’t even want to think about what they might do if he started dating some random alien.” 

 

Pidge doesn’t bother to look up from what she’s working on, instead blindly reaching for some tools. Lance gently kicked the one she seemed to be reaching for closer to her. “Lance you’re an idiot.” 

 

“What? Why am I an idiot? This is serious, I feel really bad!” He groaned, sliding down the wall and leaning his head on his knees. He didn’t  _ want _ to hate Keith, or feel disgusted by what he did. He wasn’t disgusted by dudes flirting with other dudes, so why was it so different when he thought about Keith? “I don’t hate Keith or anything, I just want him to stop flirting with other people.” 

 

Pidge sighs in exasperation, putting her screwdriver down. Jeez, he was really annoying everyone today, wasn’t he. “Please think about what you’re saying to me.” 

 

“What’s that supposed to mean? I’m telling you I hate it when I see Keith flirt with other dudes. Or when other dudes flirt with him. I mean, I don’t really care what he does with his life. Maybe I’m just jealous that he has more game than me.” 

 

“Or,” Pidge looks at him. Really looks. Lance can’t read the expression on her face. “You’re jealous of something else.” 

 

He stares at Pidge in returns, then blinks once, confusion written all over his face. “Uh…?” 

 

“You’re such an idiot.” 

 

“Pidge,  _ please. _ ” 

 

It takes a moment for her to respond, and all Lance can hear is the sound of metal hitting metal. “Have you considered the fact that maybe you just want all of Keith’s attention to yourself?” 

 

“I…” Lance paused. Did he want Keith’s attention all to himself? No, no, of course not. Keith was the worst. But… maybe Pidge did had a point. 

 

An image of Keith flashed in his mind, and before Lance knew what was happening he was kissing that image of Keith. Sweetly, like an awkward but good first kiss. They both seemed into it, Lance’s hands were on Keith’s waist and Keith’s were on his cheeks. 

 

He recoiled from the thought before it got too far, but something inside him did flips. “Pidge that idea made me feel physically sick, don’t do that again.” 

 

She sighed, once again in exasperation, before returning to her work on the robot she definitely stole from Namura. “All I’m saying is maybe you’re going about this the wrong way. Think about why does seeing Keith with other guys upset you so much.”

 

Sighing softly, Lance leaned his head against the cool metal wall. Why did seeing Keith with other guys upset him so much? He wasn’t jealous of his game, Keith wouldn’t know flirting if it hit him in the face. Not that Lance had been flirting with him! Why was he justifying this to himself? Whatever. 

 

Why  _ did  _ seeing Keith with other guys upset Lance so much?

 

…

 

…….Oh. 

 

Oh. 

 

Oh, no. 

 

His stomach did flips again. 

 

“Pidge..?” 

 

“Yes, Lance.”

 

“I think I’m in love with Keith.” 

 

\- - - 

 

Pidge had been laughing for twenty minutes and Lance couldn’t find it in his heart to tell her to stop.  

 

\- - - 

 

He slipped out of the room before Pidge stopped, deciding he didn’t have time to continue to feel like an idiot. He was a man on a mission. A really embarrassing and gay mission. 

 

Oh god, what was he supposed to do? He couldn’t just go and  _ tell  _ Keith that he liked him, right? That’s not how it works in situations like this one, it isn’t like some 80’s movie where he could hold a boombox outside Keith’s room and hope for the best. 

 

…….. 

 

\- - - 

 

After a totally unsuccessful attempt of trying to see if there was any sort of portable music player  on the ship, Lance decided to just face the music and go to Keith’s room and at least apologize for what he did. It was in a way Lance’s fault that they went through hell on the mission anyways, and he didn’t want Keith to stay mad at him for something like that. Especially when they had far worse things to deal with. Voltron was the only reason for this, yes. 

 

\- - - 

 

It didn’t take Lance too long to get to Keith’s quarters, but he had secretly hoped that he would’ve gotten himself lost or something so he could gather his thoughts. What was he supposed to say? 

 

He stood in front of the door for a very long moment instead, using this time to compose his thoughts. He wondered if Keith would even talk to him. He couldn’t have been that mad, right? Right. For sure. 

 

He rapped his knuckle against the metal of the door, taking a step back. It took a moment, and Lance had started to worry that Keith wasn’t in there. But the door slid open, and Keith stood there in front of him. 

 

“Uh… hi?” Lance smiled awkwardly, waving once. 

 

He could see Keith reaching for the door sensor, and quickly stepped closer to prevent that. Although, Keith could still shut the door, it’d just shut on Lance and hurt like hell. He stepped further into the room, and closer to Keith. No way was he letting this opportunity slip away from him that easy. If he didn’t talk to Keith now, then who knows when they’d bother to listen to each other. 

 

“No, wait, Keith,” Lance said, in a rushed voice as Keith glared at him. His lips pulled into a small frown, and he looked away.  “I’m here to say I’m sorry.” 

 

“Sorry? Sorry for what?” Keith spat his words out, and Lance didn’t want to look to see how mad he was. “Almost costing us that mission?” 

 

Lance grit his teeth. This was no time to be getting mad at Keith again, so he just had to hold back. “ _ Yes _ , okay? I came to apologize for doing what I did to you, and getting mad at you.”

 

Keith lets out an annoyed huff of breath, but he at least doesn’t seem too mad about it anymore. Maybe he had forgiven Lance already. That was easy. “I don’t understand why you had to get so mad at me in the first place, though.” 

 

“Because I uh…” Oh boy, be careful Lance. Don’t say anything to make him mad again. “I hated seeing that guy flirt with you.” 

 

Nailed it. 

 

“You… what?” Keith sounded mad. And confused. Bad combo. 

 

“I uh… that came out wrong. I meant I didn’t like seeing some guy flirt with you.” Killing it, Lance. 

 

“What  _ is  _ your problem?” Oh god, Keith sounded  _ really _ mad. “What does it matter to you what I do with other people?” 

 

“It  _ doesn’t  _ matter!”

 

“Oh, so you don’t care what I do with others.” 

 

He sounded even more mad and Lance was just really, really confused now. What the hell was he supposed to do? Everything he said was making things worse!

 

“No, I — look, Keith, I—”

 

“I don’t think I want to hear it, Lance.” 

 

“I  _ like  _ you, okay? That’s why I hated seeing that Namurian flirting with you!” Lance finally looked at Keith, then froze. 

 

Keith was frozen too. He looked like he was ready to cry. 

 

“You…” He spoke after a moment, his words quiet. 

 

“I. I should go.” He turned quickly, cheeks flushed and heart aching.

 

“No, Lance—”

 

He stepped towards the door, about to leave when he felt Keith grab his wrist. His first instinct was to pull his hand from him, but something about the way his hand gripped his made Lance’s heart ache even more. 

 

“…Sorry.” The words came out cracked and broken, and Lance regretted saying them. He didn’t want Keith seeing him vulnerable at a time like this. But he supposed it was a bit too late for that. 

 

“Don’t go.” Keith’s words sound just as broken, and Lance’s heart hurts again. 

 

“I… Keith..” 

 

“Lance, just shut up for a second.” 

 

He complies. 

 

Keith releases Lance’s wrist, and instead grabs his hand before he can pull away. Lance turns to look at him, eyes wide and mouth open. Keith’s looking down. 

 

“...I get it if you hate me, y’know, I’m not gonna blame you, heh…” 

 

“Lance, I said shut up.” 

 

He complies again. 

 

Keith is quiet for a while, and they just stand there, holding hands. 

 

Lance wouldn’t normally complain, hell he’s holding hands with Keith and that’s pretty stellar, even if this is the first time he’s actively wanted to hold hands with Keith. Only problem is that Lance is pretty sure he’s never felt this anxious in his entire life. 

 

“I like you, too.” Keith’s words are quiet, and Lance is almost certain he misheard them. 

 

“… Huh?” 

 

Keith looks up at him, and  _ quiznak  _ has he always been that pretty? “I said: I like you, too.” 

 

Lance stares, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. This is… the opposite of the reaction he expected. Maybe he should’ve seen it coming with the whole hand holding thing and Keith not blowing up but  _ wow.  _

 

Keith starts to look uncomfortable by the time he says anything. “Are you just going to stand there, or…?” 

 

“Ah!!” 

 

“That’s…” Keith’s eyebrows pull together, and he purses his lips. “Say something other than yelling in surprise, please.” 

 

“You like me!” 

 

“Unfortunately.” 

 

Lance just stands there, staring incredulously at Keith. But his face soon falls back into his usual cocky grin. “I knew you couldn’t resist my charms.” 

 

He laughs when Keith hits him. 

 

“But, seriously…” He falls quiet after a moment, a soft smile on his face. Jesus.  “You like me.” 

 

Keith nods, stepping closer. They were already close but this was something else.

 

Lance feels his heart start to race, and he almost wants to turn away. But something in him makes him stay rooted to his spot, as though if he pulls away everything he’s done will have been ruined. 

 

“I never really expected you to be the jealous type.” 

 

“Shut up.” 

 

“Wow, never heard that one before.” Keith smirks, that same stupid cocky and totally adorable grin he always has. 

 

Fuck Keith. 

 

Lance can’t help but to lean in and wipe that annoyingly cute grin off his face. 

 

\- - -

 

It turns out Lance doesn’t have any problem with Keith kissing guys if it’s him he’s kissing.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr [@bpd-lance](http://bpd-lance.tumblr.com/) for more gay voltron nonsense


End file.
